New warning about credit card skimming | What you need to know
HENRY COUNTY, Ga. - Police in Henry County have issued an urgent warning to residents regarding incidents at the checkout counter. Investigators report that thieves have been using skimmers to steal credit card information at stores across the county, specifically targeting people who use the magnetic stripe to swipe their cards at the checkout.
Authorities have not disclosed the precise locations of these devices. However, two cybersecurity analysts confirm that this type of scheme is all too common.
"They come up, they come out to a Walmart, a Home Depot, Best Buy, someplace that’s big and super busy," said Peter Tran, a cybercrime analyst for InferSight and a former NCIS Special Agent.
Investigators in Henry County say the thieves have been targeting self-checkout terminals at stores in the county. Tran notes culprits sneak covers onto the card terminals, going unnoticed by most people.
"It listens in for the data, you swipe it, and later at another point, that same individual will come in with a wireless device and be able to bring the data across to a USB thumb drive if they have to," Tran explained.
Jon Powell, an Atlanta advisor with Moore Colson who's focused on cybersecurity, noted these devices' affordability.
"You can buy these things, they’re very inexpensive," said Powell, who is a partner at the Atlanta-based firm Moore Colson, focused on cybersecurity.
Powell added that the perpetrators purchase these phony terminal covers in bulk. "If it doesn’t look right, it’s probably not right. If the card reader is kind of falling off or not quite secure," he advised.
Tran also warned consumers to be vigilant. "Pay attention to those terminals that look a little off compared to the other ones; they kind of rattle," he said.
The devices in Henry County have only targeted those who use the magnetic stripe to swipe and pay, but other devices can also read the chips. Both experts recommend using tap-to-pay options as a more secure method.